Non Sequitur

One of Elvis Presley’s most successful post-Army vehicles, Blue Hawaii casts Elvis as scion to a Hawaiian pineapple fortune. His snooty mother Angela Lansbury wants Presley to take over the management of the family business, but he’d rather make his own way in the world. He lands a job at a tourist agency, and incidentally finds time to dally with such lovelies as Joan Blackman and Nancy Walters. Steve Brodie, as ever, is on hand to inveigle Elvis into an outsized brawl. Among the songs featured in the film are the title number (originally written in 1937 for Bing Crosby) and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blue Hawaii Movie Quotes
* I was mindin my own business just drinking daddy’s juice-i swear i’ll never touch that stuff again!
* My baby’s home from the Big House.
* That’s how you tell how many friends you got….. sneeze and then count the *gesundheits*
* Moonlight in Hawaii can be rather intoxicating. –I know, that’s why I never touch the stuff.
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Tijana Taxi
What most gringos say is a taxi — one you hire to take you to a specific place — is here called a “special” taxi, un taxi especial.

But when a Mexican in Tijuana says the word “taxi” or talks about riding in “los taxis,” he or she usually does NOT mean an especial. They are talking about the “route taxis” — los taxis de ruta.

Taxis de ruta are fleets of sedans and station wagons (the wagons can hold two or three more passengers than a sedan). They run on set routes all over town. Every route has its name and colors (some colors duplicate in different routes — ojo!). Most — not all — routes radiate from downtown Tijuana (”el centro”) and reach into the various suburbs and colonias of this sprawling city. If you walk around downtown and see lines of people waiting on different blocks to crowd into lines of taxis, well, you’ve just seen a route-taxi boarding zone. There are dozens of these boarding spots within a block or two of Revolution.

Taxis in each route (”ruta”) are painted with a particular color scheme, and each route can be called by two names: its destination and/or its colors. For example, to get to his girlfriend Maria’s house in La Mesa, Gringo Michael takes the Red & Blacks — los rojo y negros (or more simply “the reds” — los rojos) — which leave from 4th and Constitution and run out “the boulevard” (Agua Caliente Blvd., which then changes its name to Diaz Ordaz Blvd.) to La Mesa, 5 & 10, ending up at Presa or Clinica 27. These are most often referred to as los rojos.
Now you can take a ride in a tijuana taxi without having to go to Mexico by following the tijuana mixed drink recipe.

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History Of The Kiss
Anthropologists really don’t know much about the early history of kissing. It is presumed that it happened as part of courtship and sexual foreplay, and therefore is rather instinctive (many animals also kiss, lick and nuzzle each other), but it was (for whatever reason) rarely depicted in art or writing. Artists/writers may have considered kissing too sexual or private to share publicly.

Kissing allows prospective mates to taste each other’s pheromones for biological compatibility. It is a much stronger chemical reaction than merely sniffing each other. Humans also judge potential mates on the quality of the kiss as a sign of a potential lover’s personality and ability to commit.

Some anthropologists believe that kissing is a learned cultural behavior and theorize that the Greeks learned about it when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 B.C., but many other anthropologists disagree and believe kissing was part of courtship rituals for centuries before it was ever recorded.

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Stepping on a Rusty Nail…
The bacteria that cause tetanus are common and widespread, and it is the nature of the wound, rather than the presence or absence of rust or iron that is connected with tetanus. The bacterium that causes tetanus is Clostridia bacteria, in the family of C. tetani. It can be found in soil, dust, feces and on even on the surface of the skin. The bacteria only reproduces in the absence of oxygen, so any deep wound can become a breeding ground.

Obviously, a rusty nail can cause a deep wound. So can many other objects from gardening tools, sewing needles, animal bites, splinters workshop tools, etc. Any object, whether it is rusty or not, that punctures or damages the skin, can lead to tetanus Also, injuries that create dead skin, like burns and frostbite, can also lead to a tetanus infection.

After getting your shots, trying making a drink with the Rusty Nail mixed drink recipe, it’ll make you feel better.

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Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London, England, on April 16th 1889. His father was a versatile vocalist and actor; and his mother, known under the stage name of Lily Harley, was an attractive actress and singer, who gained a reputation for her work in the light opera field. Charlie was thrown on his own resources before he reached the age of ten as the early death of his father and the subsequent illness of his mother made it necessary for Charlie and his brother, Sydney, to fend for themselves.

Having inherited natural talents from their parents, the youngsters took to the stage as the best opportunity for a career. Charlie made his professional debut as a member of a juvenile group called “The Eight Lancashire Lads” and rapidly won popular favour as an outstanding tap dancer.

Charles Chaplin was one of the rare comedians who not only financed and produced all his films (with the exception of “A Countess from Hong Kong”), but was the author, actor, director and soundtrack composer of them as well.

He died on Christmas day 1977, survived by eight children from his last marriage with Oona O’Neill, and one son from his short marriage to Lita Grey.

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Shark Teeth Facts: What’s so special about a shark’s tooth?
If you don’t know much about shark-tooth collecting, then you may not know that these relics are more than just teeth — they’re fossils. Sharks have been living on Earth for about 400 million years. When a shark dies and its cartilage dissolves, the teeth fall to the bottom of the ocean and get covered with sandy sediment. This sediment prevents oxygen and destructive bacteria from reaching the tooth, and it fossilizes over the course of about 10,000 years. That’s why most of the teeth that are found and collected aren’t white, but gray, black or brown — the color of the sediment. The tooth absorbs the minerals in the sediment and these minerals eventually replace the dentine and enamel that makes up the tooth. Voila, you have a fossil on your hands.
Read more about Shark Tooth collecting.

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Why’s the Sun Red during Sunrise and Sunset?
At sunrise the earth is rotating towards the sun. Similarly, during sunset, the earth is rotating away from the sun. During these times the sunlight has to travel at an angle and thus cover a longer distance through the atmosphere. It encounters more obstacles in its path. Most of the colours, like green and violet, get scattered before the light reaches the earth. Since red is scattered the least, it is this colour that we see as it reaches us.

During noontime, the sun is directly overhead and it appears white. This is because the sunlight has to cover a much lesser distance through the atmosphere and it faces less obstacles. Hence, it escapes a great deal of scattering.

In fact, if we were to calculate the distance the sun’s rays have to travel through the denser part of the atmosphere (roughly around 150 kms) to any point on earth, we would find that this journey of the rays is almost 50 times more at sunrise and sunset than at noon.

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The original book, of course, was published in 1960. It has sold over five million copies in many countries.
Written by Harper Lee, it chronicles the tale of Scout Finch over several years of her childhood. Providing the backdrop and much of the material for the novel is Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, a lawyer, and a major trial in which he defends a black man; at the time, a social taboo.

This book is indispensible reading for anyone even considering college English. It’s on almost every recommended reading list that can be found. Unfortunately, controversy over the use of the term ‘nigger’ has marred the book’s name, although not as badly as in the case of Huck Finn.

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Sangria sounds a little like Santaria
Santeria Defined: A combination of religious traditions or beliefs that combines a similar African traditional religion. Santeria originated in the country of Cuba and Brazil. This religion is a combination of the traditional Yoruba faith and the worship of catholic saints.
Santeria or “La Regla Lucumm” as it’s also known originated in the region of west Africa. “La Regla Lucumm” is the traditional faith of the Yoruba inhabitants. This religion sprung from the traditional slave trades that occurred in early days of the religion. The Yoruban natives were abducted from their country and unwillingly transported to the Caribbean countries of Cuba, Haiti and Brazil, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic among other Caribbean islands.

The Yoruba people were abducted and transported to these islands without regard for the beliefs, traditions or their lives but the abductors failed to realize that the inner faith and passion that was within the hearts of these people were very powerful and no abductors had control over their faith. These people brought with them their traditions, their souls and the powerful faith in their deities

When they arrived at their Caribbean destinations they were unwillingly baptized within the Roman Catholic Faith and forced to leave behind all of their traditional beliefs and practices. These people were resourceful, intelligent, committed and appreciative to their Santeria Religion that they managed to come up with a creative way to fuse and conceal their beliefs within the Roman Catholic Church by choosing a catholic saint and associating the Saint to each of the Orisha of their traditional practices.

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Gorilla Facts
1. Gorillas’ hands are very much like ours; they have five fingers, including an opposable thumb. Their feet have five toes, including an opposable big toe. Gorillas can grasp things with both their hands and their feet.
2. There are three types of gorillas: Western Lowland, Eastern Lowland and Mountain gorillas. The names refer to the different areas of Africa where they live.
3. Gorillas can live more than 50 years. Newborn gorillas are very small, weighing only about 4 1/2 pounds.
4. Each evening, gorillas construct a “nest” for the night in which they will curl up and sleep. These bowl-shaped nests are made out of leaves and other plant material. Nests are only shared by a mother and her nursing offspring. Scientists who study gorillas can easily estimate a local gorilla population by counting the number of “nests.”
5. A typical gorilla family inclues one silverback, the strongest male and the undisputed leader; one immature male between 8 and 13 years old; three or four adult females, who ordinarily stay with the silverback for life; and three to six youngsters under 8 years old.
6. Mountain gorillas eat large amounts of vegetation and spend about 30 percent of each day foraging for food. They consume roots, leaves, stems of herbs, vines, bark from trees, shrub-sized plants, and bamboo shoots.
7. Gorillas are the largest living primates - the family of animals that includes monkeys, apes and humans. A mature male gorilla can be over 6 feet tall and weigh 300 to 500 pounds. He can spread his arms 8 feet across and is as strong as 4 to 8 strong men. Adult female gorillas are about half the size of the males.

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Stanley Steamer, a toast to the Stanley Steamer
Steam cars unitize an external combustion (Rankine cycle) engine where the fuel source is consumed external to the engine. A steam boiler generates vast quantities of power for later use on demand unlike the internal combustion (Otto cycle) engine that must develop the needed power on demand. A Stanley steam engine provides four power impulses per crankshaft rotation similar to an 8-cylinder internal combustion engine. However, the power is applied uniformly for a longer length of the stroke than the hammer-like explosions common to gasoline or diesel engines. This provides the steam engine an advantage of more torque in a smaller package over what can be generated with a gasoline engine of equivalent rating.
Stanley steamers generate steam in drum shaped boilers ranging from 14″ to 30″ in diameter and from 14″ to 18″ in height. Similar to a battery the Stanley boiler stores steam energy for later use on demand. Unique in their design, no Stanley boiler has ever been documented to explode. The circular boiler walls are strengthened with three layers of exceptionally strong piano wire to provide sidewall strength unequalled in boiler designs for similar ratings. The use of between 500 and 1,000 fire tubes not only efficiently transfers heat to the water, they provide a structural strength to the boiler ends. Operated nominally at 600 PSIG, boilers were factory tested to twice operating pressure before being placed in a car.

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Alexander Hamilton, American Patriot and bad ass (died in a gun dual with a political rival)
Hamilton, Alexander, a Delegate from New York; born on the island of Nevis, British West Indies, January 11, 1757; immigrated to the United States in 1772, where he received educational training in the schools of Elizabethtown, N.J., and King’s College (now Columbia University), New York City; entered the Continental Army in New York in 1776 as captain of Artillery; appointed aide-de-camp to General Washington March 1, 1777, and served in that capacity until February 16, 1781; Member of the Continental Congress in 1782, 1783, and 1788; member of the Annapolis Convention of 1786; served in the New York State assembly in 1787; member of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in 1787 which adopted the Constitution of the United States; member of the State ratification convention in 1788; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in New York City; Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Washington 1789-1795; returned to New York and resumed the practice of law; mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr at Weehawken on the Hudson, and died in New York City the following day, July 12, 1804; interment in Trinity Churchyard.
One of the most famous duels in American history, the Burr-Hamilton duel arose from a long-standing political and personal rivalry that had developed between both men over a course of several years. Tensions reached a bursting point with Hamilton’s journalistic defamation of Burr’s character during the 1804 New York gubernatorial race in which Burr was a candidate. Fought at a time when the practice of dueling was being outlawed in the northern United States, the duel had immense political ramifications. Burr, who survived the duel, would be indicted for murder in both New York and New Jersey (though these charges were either later dismissed or resulted in acquittal), and the harsh criticism and animosity directed toward him would bring about an end to his political career and force him into a self-imposed exile. Further, Hamilton’s untimely death would fatally weaken the fledgling remnants of the Federalist Party which, following the death of George Washington (1732-1799) five years earlier, was left without a strong leader.
If Burr would have had a Brandy Alexander before the dual, the Federalist may not have died out.

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The Pina Colada Song - true one of the worst songs of all time. Hopefully, this song won’t get stuck in your head.

I was tired of my lady, we’d been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you’re not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I’m the lady you’ve looked for, write to me, and escape.

I didn’t think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.
And though I’m nobody’s poet, I thought it wasn’t half-bad.

Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
I’m not much into health food, I am into champagne.
I’ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.
At a bar called O’Malley’s, where we’ll plan our escape.

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, Oh, it’s you.
And we laughed for a moment, and I said, I never knew..

That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You’re the love that I’ve looked for, come with me, and escape.

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you’re not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You’re the love that I’ve looked for, come with me, and escape.

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History Of Yule
Yule is the Anglo-Saxon word for the festival of the Winter Solstice. It comes from the original ‘Iul’ meaning ‘wheel’. In the old Almanacs, the symbol of a wheel was used to mark Yuletide. The idea behind this is that the year turns like a wheel, The Great Wheel of the Zodiac, The Wheel of Life, of which the spokes are the old ritual occasions. The winter solstice, the rebirth of the Sun, is a particularly important turning point.
The idea of holding a festival at the winter solstice, to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun was so universal in the ancient world, that the Christians adapted it. No one really knows for sure when Christ was born, but by holding this feast at midwinter, Christ was mystically identified with the Sun.
The history of the Christmas Yule Log originates in the ritual known as Yuletide, a pagan festival of fire. This festival uses the burning of a log on the eve of the Winter Solstice to usher in the power of the sun. The day traditionally falls on December 20 and is the shortest day and longest night of the year. Thereafter nights will grow shorter and the sun will grow stronger in the longer days. However the name Yule derives from the Norse words “Yul” or “Jul”.
The earliest known burning of a Yule-style log was in ancient Egypt in about 5000 BC to honor Horus, their sun god. The Sumerians had a similar ritual.